FARM

In Agriculture, a farm is a portion of land, with suitable buildings, fences, and other arrangements nece ary for carrying on the busine of farming, which is let to the farmer or occupier for rent. Farming is no doubt coeval with the invention of property in land; because we may suppose that when a proprietor has taken po e ion of a portion of territorial surface, and called il his own, he would require the a istance of various persons to cultivate it; and these persons he could only lemunerate by giving them a share of the produce. Hence the origin of what on the Continent is called the Metayer system,— in which the landlord supplies the farmer or tenant with the soil, buildings, and the whole or a certain portion of the stock; while the latter supplies the labour of cultivation and management, and take a as a remuneration the half, or some other measure of the produce. In proce of time, as the tenants or farmers began to acquire capital, they furnished the whole of tne live and dead stock, as well as the labour of cultivation and management, and paid the proprietor or landlord a fixed real in money or produce. To enable the tenant or farmer to do this' with the greater security, leases were invented, by which the tenant holding the land for a certain number of years was enabled to layout money for its improvement at the commencement ofhis lease, and to receive il back again in the form of increased produce before its termination. At the commencement of this system of what maybe called free farming, all farms were undoubtedly of very limited extent; but with the increase of capital and skill en the part of the farmer they have become greatly enlarged. Much has been written respecting the most profitable size of farms for the public; but this may safely be left to the interest of the parties immediately concerned. Whatever size of farm brings in the highest rent to the landlord will be the best size for the public; because the higher the rent the greater the amount of the produce that must be sent to market lo pay it. That there is a natural limit to the size of farms there can be no doubt; but what this is is a different question, and has no connection with the other. It depends on the character of the surface, the kind of farrnIng, and the climate. But though there is a natural limit to the size of farms, and which in any given case can be readily defined, there is no limit to the number of farms that an individual may hold but those of his capital and his skill. [s. 457]